Don’t Let Your Employees Down - Social Security Administration

Don¡¯t Let Your

Employees Down

A Guide On How To Correct201X

And Prevent Reporting Errors On

Employment Returns

(Forms 941, 943, 944 or Schedule H filed with IRS

and Forms W-3 and W-2 filed with Social Security)

Don¡¯t Let Your

Leaflet Inside Title

Employees Down

Y

ou reported more employee wages to

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

than you reported to the Social Security

Administration (SSA) on your Forms W-2.

As an employer, you are required to

report your employees¡¯ wage totals to IRS:

? Quarterly on the Form 941 (Employer¡¯s

QUarterly Federal Tax Return); or

? Annually on Form 943 (Employer¡¯s

Annual Tax Return for Agricultural

Employees); or

? Annually on Form 944 (Employer¡¯s

ANNUAL Federal Tax Return); or

? Annually on a Schedule H (Form 1040)

Household Employment Taxes.

You must also report individual

employee wage data to Social Security

annually on Form W-3 (Transmittal of

Wage and Tax Statements) along with

Forms W-2 (Wage and Tax Statement),

either electronically or on paper. Social

Security and IRS compare the wage

data reported to each agency and ask

employers to resolve any differences in

amounts reported.

While most of the employer earnings

reports filed yearly with Social Security

match what was reported to IRS, some

employers report more Federal Insurance

Contributions Act (FICA) wages to IRS

than to Social Security. FICA wages are

wages subject to Social Security and/or

Medicare taxes.

Your wage reports submitted to Social

Security did not match IRS records

for the year shown on the enclosed

questionnaire. If the wage amounts you

reported to IRS are correct, it means some

of your employees¡¯ earnings were not

credited to their Social Security earnings

records. This can affect your employees¡¯

eligibility for, or the amount of their

Social Security benefits, as well as their

Medicare eligibility.

If the amount reported to Social

Security is correct, then you may have

overpaid FICA taxes. You may claim a

refund from IRS by filing Form 941-X

(Adjusted Employer¡¯s Quarterly

Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund),

Form 943-X (Adjusted Employer¡¯s Annual

Federal Tax Return for Agricultural

Employees or Claim for Refund), Form

944-X (Adjusted Employer¡¯s Annual

Federal Tax Return or Claim for Refund)

or an amended Schedule H.

About the enclosed questionnaire

One of two questionnaires is enclosed

with this pamphlet:

? A ¡°missing report¡± questionnaire

which is sent to employers for whom

IRS has received a employment tax

return but Social Security has no

corresponding wage report; or

? A ¡°discrepancy¡± questionnaire, which

is sent to employers who reported a

3

larger Social Security and/or Medicare

wage amount to IRS than they reported

to Social Security.

If your report is missing

If you received a missing report

questionnaire, check your records

to see if:

? You used the correct version of Form

W-3 and W-2 for the tax year being

reported; or, if you filed electronically,

that you entered the correct tax year. If

not, the wages were probably credited

to the wrong tax year. In this event,

provide us with a Form W-3c, along

with a Form W-2c for each employee

showing the correct wage information;

? You still have a paper Copy ¡°A¡± of the

Form(s) W-2, or your electronic report

(which may have been returned to you

for correction). If so, please send them

for processing to the address shown on

the questionnaire;

? You showed your correct employer

name and/or employer identification

number (EIN) on your reports. If the

employer name or EIN was omitted or

incorrectly shown, explain this on the

questionnaire. Be sure to include the

correct and incorrect employer name

and EIN. This will help us search for

4

the ¡°missing¡± report in our records.

Send changes to the address shown on

the questionnaire.

If any of these errors occurred and

you are providing copies of Forms W-2

to correct the records, compare the wage

totals on these forms to those wage totals

shown on the enclosed questionnaire

(totals you reported to IRS). If these

amounts are not the same, explain why

on the questionnaire and mail it to the

address shown on the questionnaire.

If none of the reasons listed above

identify the problem, please return a copy

of your wage report(s) to us for reprocessing.

If your report is discrepant

If you received a discrepant report

questionnaire, check your records to

see if you completed any Forms W-2

incorrectly and if any of the following

errors were made:

? Void box checked in error (if so, send us

a new Copy ¡°A¡± of Form W-2);

? Amount shown in the Social Security

wages, Social Security tips and/or the

Medicare wages/tips field for one or

more Forms W-2 is incorrect;

? Employer portion of the FICA taxes was

incorrectly deducted from or added to

the reported FICA wage amount;

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